Cheng Ji and Lao Geng rushed back to the clinic in the early morning.
Chen Guangjun's intravenous drip for the day has been completed. After the doctor sealed the indwelling needle for him, he went back to his room upstairs to sleep. He was replaced by his assistant, a female nurse with a perm and tattoos, who also looked unprofessional but was actually quite professional.
Sister Yu was covered with a down jacket and sleeping on a hospital bed outside the isolation room.
Old Geng woke up Sister Yu and told her to go home, and he occupied the bed. Cheng Ji had no choice but to lie on the table and sleep.
At three or four in the middle of the night, he could no longer bear the pain all over his body, so he sat up and smoked.
He touched the e-cigarette in his pocket and thought of Qi Beisong... Should he bring Old Qi to Ms. Cheng's grave to show her? To show her that he has a partner, so that she can worry less about him in the afterlife.
He suddenly remembered that Ms. Cheng did not have a grave.
Then he thought that even if there was no grave, the old mother’s belongings accumulated over decades were still with Shen Zimo!
Cheng Ji was choked all of a sudden, coughed several times, and scratched his hair in distress.
Damn it, I actually forgot about this!
He didn't want to see Shen Zimo, so he set the message notification setting to not remind him. When he checked it now, he realized that the other person had been thinking about him all along!
Shen Zimo didn't send messages every day, but he sent many greetings during the New Year holidays. He was polite and courteous, and he repeatedly apologized for his physical contact with Cheng Ji.
Cheng Ji felt that he was a little fussy. She was not a grown-up girl. She was angry when he touched her, but she just laughed it off afterwards.
Shen Zimo's last batch of messages were sent tonight, there were as many as seven or eight messages.
The first one was a greeting, followed by asking when he would come to get his things, and tactfully reminding him that Cheng Ji's belongings had caused him trouble, but he said it very politely, and there was no complaint in his tone.
Cheng Ji felt a little embarrassed. When he moved his family there, they agreed that the place would only be stored temporarily for a few days. However, it had been almost two months already without even saying hello. It was really unfair.
He felt that he owed Shen Zimo. Thinking that Shen Zimo was also a victim in the Mao Xiaowei incident, he might as well go find him. On the one hand, he could solve his own problems, and on the other hand, he could remind him to be more careful when working in the future.
He replied: I'll come to see you tomorrow morning.
Early in the morning, he walked out of the urban village and hailed a taxi to Shen Zimo's school.
The driver entered "y Academy of Fine Arts" into the navigation system and Cheng Ji saw the location of "k Polytechnic Institute" and was immediately filled with mixed feelings.
Shen Zimo had said before that their schools were very close, almost next door.
I heard that K University of Science and Technology is a good university in China, ranked very high, and the diploma is very valuable, but he knows nothing about either "science" or "engineering".
In his previous life, he didn't know how he graduated from his alma mater. Maybe the teacher thought he was handsome? Or maybe he didn't like him staying in school because he would be a bad influence on the next generation? In short, he didn't know whether he passed the exam or not, but he was kicked out of the school.
A poor student will always be a poor student no matter how many times he is reincarnated.
The driver chatted with him and asked, "Are you from Y Academy of Fine Arts? I know a boss whose child also goes to school there."
Cheng Ji said no, he was going to meet a friend.
The driver said, "Oh, they are all artists. The students are all dressed in strange shapes and their thoughts are different from ours! We eat, drink, defecate, urinate and sleep, while they are light, shadow and fog. Anyway, I can't understand their speech!"
"Yes, I don't understand."
Cheng Ji smiled politely, then thought of Shen Zimo and found that his face was a little blurry.
Shen Zimo is of plain appearance, with plain hair, plain facial features, and plain expression. He has no outstanding features, but he makes people feel comfortable on the surface. So much so that after not seeing him for a while, one would almost forget about him.
Cheng Ji never thought that he would travel into this novel world, break up a pair of abusive lovers, and end up getting involved with Qi Beisong.
He held his chin with his hand and thought: Tsk, am I a slut
…It seems so, because he stole someone’s wife.
Then he thought about what to say when he saw Shen Zimo. After all, he had promised to find him last time, but there was no news. He thought that Shen Zimo would not be angry with him because of his kind personality.
yThe Academy of Fine Arts has arrived. He remembered the location of Shen Zimo's dormitory and walked towards it.
He called Shen Zimo halfway through the journey, but the other party didn't answer. He was puzzled and quickened his pace.
Since his roommate rented a house outside, Shen Zimo currently lives alone. The dormitory management at the art school is lenient and he is usually hardly disturbed by anyone.
Cheng Ji arrived at his dormitory, and before he could knock on the door, someone opened it from inside.
Shen Zimo was standing behind the door wearing an apron. When he saw Cheng Ji, he smiled as brightly as a spring flower. He didn't even have the slightest bit of anger at being perfunctorily treated and delayed for many days. He said, "Oh my, you finally came to see me!"
This sweet and tender remark made Cheng Ji feel ashamed. He thought, why are they all acting like married women? How the hell have I deserved to have so many girls around me... Ugh, I'm going in the wrong direction, stop!
“… I’m coming.” He murmured.
"Welcome!" Shen Zimo hugged him as usual.
Cheng Ji bit his lower lip, not wanting to hide, so he endured it.
Shen Zimo asked Cheng Ji to come in and sit down. "Come in and sit down! My hands are dirty. I'll go wash them and come back!"
"What are you doing wearing an apron and gloves?" Cheng Ji asked, "Cooking?"
Shen Zimo smiled and said, "How can I cook in the dormitory? I'm mixing something. The solvent of the paint is usually corrosive. I don't want to grind off my fingerprints in college, and I don't want to ruin so many clothes a year."
Cheng nodded and asked, "Didn't you hear the phone ring just now?"
"No, my phone was on silent mode. Did you call me?" Shen Zimo said.
"Um."
Shen Zimo washed his hands and made coffee for Cheng Ji. Cheng Ji said he couldn't sleep after drinking it, so plain water would be fine.
Shen Zimo then replaced it with a cup of instant milk tea, which was brewed thickly. Cheng Ji took it and took a big sip. He found it too sweet, but didn't mind.
Shen Zimo did not hide his joy, and spoke rapidly, "The last time I went to Changkang Hospital, I heard that your mother had passed away. I was very distressed because I could not help. Later, I heard that you were not found. I was afraid that something had happened to you, and I was terrified for a long time! I almost called the police, but the police asked me what my relationship with you was, and I could not answer. Where have you been? How are you doing recently?"
Cheng Ji felt a little guilty and lowered his head and said, "It's okay, I'm fine."
Shen Zimo asked: "What do you want to see me about today?"
Cheng Ji said: "Oh, I think..."
Before he could finish his next words, Shen Zimo asked, "Have you figured it out?"
"ah?"
"Have you thought it through and are you willing to be with me?"
"..." Cheng Ji slowly put down the cup of milk tea.
Shen Zimo observed his expression and was quite disappointed: "Ah, you didn't come here for this?"
"I..." Cheng Ji said, "I have a lot of messy stuff at home, and I don't think it's appropriate to leave it with you, so..."
"So you want to take it away?" Shen Zimo sighed sadly.
This sigh was so full of tenderness that if Cheng Ji really had no feelings for him, he would have almost knelt down.
"Where are you going to take it?"
Cheng Ji laughed awkwardly and scratched his head.
In fact, he had already thought it through before he came out: since he was planning to date Master Qi anyway, why not ask Master Qi to help him rent a house
"I rented a house." said Cheng Ji.
"Where?"
Cheng Ji couldn't answer.
Shen Zimo thought he was unwilling to say it, so he smiled bitterly and said, "Well, fine, I won't ask anymore. Is this your choice? Are you planning to completely break off relations with me?"
Cheng Ji quickly waved his hands and said something lame like "we can still be friends in the future" as straight men usually do.
Shen Zimo had adjusted his mood and said, "You have a lot of stuff at home. It's inconvenient to keep it at school all the time, and I'm afraid people will gossip about it. I've asked someone to move it away. Come with me to get it."
"Where did you move to?" Cheng Ji asked.
Shen Zimo smiled and said, "That house in my grandmother's property was originally prepared for me, but it has not been transferred yet. The house is not far from the school, how about we go there together now?"
Cheng Ji drank the milk tea in one breath and readily agreed.
The house is located in a high-end residential area next to the Y Academy of Fine Arts. It is a duplex residence. Although it is not large, with the upstairs and downstairs adding up to 70 or 80 square meters, it is well decorated and it is obvious that a lot of money was spent on it.
Shen Zimo opened the door and invited Cheng Ji in, smiling sheepishly, "This house was renovated by two elderly people, so it's in the heavy style they like. Every corner is dark and old-fashioned. To be honest, I don't want to come here!"
Cheng Ji quickly shook his head: "This is one of the best decorations I have ever seen. If I had a house like this, my life would be worth it."
Shen Zimo asked: "Really?"
Cheng nodded: "Yeah!"
Shen Zimo smiled happily, locked the door and took Cheng Ji upstairs, saying, "I have piled all your things upstairs. Downstairs is already too full with no space at all!"
Cheng Ji followed him upstairs. Halfway up the stairs, he suddenly felt dizzy and his body swayed from side to side.
He grabbed the handrail, thinking it was because he didn't sleep well last night.
The small duplex had two bedrooms and two living rooms, with one room upstairs and one downstairs. Shen Zimo pushed open the door of the upstairs room, and Cheng Ji was stunned when he saw it.
This... the layout of this room is exactly the same as his old house in the Workers' New Village. Whether it is the arrangement of furniture or the placement of items, even the curtains and tablecloths, they are all replicas of his room!
There is a large workbench in his room, which was moved from some school or factory workshop. Here it is.
He also has a simple bookcase that is obviously homemade, and there is a similar one here!
The Cheng family had lived in the Workers' New Village for decades. Due to their poor economic conditions, almost everything in the house was old and patched up. So when they were forced to move, the Chengs didn't want any of the items. Some were sold as scrap or given away directly.
He didn't understand where Shen Zimo had found such similar old furniture and brought them to this brand new and luxurious house. What was his purpose?!
Shen Zimo said, "I have put all your things on the shelf. Some of them belong to your mother. I thought you might be sad if you saw them, so I didn't help you unpack them. Anyway, according to the folk customs of our Hongcheng, the things of the deceased need to be burned near the crossroads. Of course, they cannot be burned in the city. When I have time in the future, I will accompany you to find a deserted intersection in the wilderness to burn them for your mother."
Cheng Ji stared at him: "You..."
"Is this room nice?" Shen Zimo asked, "Does it feel particularly cozy? I decorated it especially for you. I have a very good image memory, and I can still recall the scenes I have seen long after. I tried my best to arrange the things in this room according to their original appearance, but there may be some mistakes, so please don't have any opinions!"
"You..." Cheng Ji's body shook.
"What's wrong with you?" Shen Zimo asked, "Are you dizzy?"
Cheng Ji clung to the door and slid down, trying his best to stay standing. He was not only dizzy, but also felt dizzy and almost fell down!
"I… "
"Where do you feel uncomfortable?" Shen Zimo asked.
Cheng Ji was no longer able to answer. He lay on his side on the dark, shiny floor of the small apartment, trying to open his eyes, but it was in vain. He was extremely sleepy and his vision was blurry.
Shen Zimo squatted beside him and gently stroked his hair as if he was stroking a cat or a dog.
"I really like you, you are so beautiful." Shen Zimo said, "You are my goddess of beauty, my doe. I can't sit still when I think of you, and my blood is hot."
His fingers stroked Chengji's face, as if he was testing the feel, sometimes light, sometimes heavy.
"Are you worried about anything recently? I have a pimple on my face. You have good skin, so you don't get pimples often."
"The chilblains on your ears haven't healed yet? Oh, do they itch? It's all because your hair is too short."
"You finally came to see me... I urged you so hard that you came. Do you think it's fun to lie to me, Cheng Cheng?"
"I gave you a chance. When we broke up last time, I thought if you came to me the next day, I would give up everything to be with you and give you everything I could give. I thought so on the third day, the fourth day, the fifth day, a week, two weeks, a month, two months..."
"You just didn't come, and you changed your phone number. I don't even know if you're dead or alive." Shen Zimo asked, "Cheng Cheng, you don't like me at all, right? So you really like that dandy guy named Qi? Are you dating him?"
"How can you be with him? He is not worthy of you, he is dirty and you are clean."
Cheng Ji closed his eyes, his eyelashes fluttering weakly.
Before he fainted, he heard Shen Zimo sigh faintly: "Why did you choose him instead of me? I love you more than he does..."
…
Cheng Ji didn't know how long he had been unconscious. When he woke up, the blackout curtains were still drawn tightly, and he couldn't see the sky outside.
He wanted to get up and close the curtains, but found that his muscles were out of control. It took him nearly ten minutes to prop up half of his body from the bed. He tried to change his posture, but fell to the floor the next second.
He tried again to stand up from the floor, but failed. His arms were weak and his legs seemed not to be his own. The only thing he could do was crawl on his knees, but he had to rest for a long time after each step.
He suspected that he had drunk some kind of muscle relaxant in addition to the sleeping potion, otherwise he would not be in such a miserable state.
Finally he gave up and lay on the floor waiting for the effect of the medicine to wear off. After all, no matter how powerful the medicine is, it has a time limit for its effect, but he hoped that the recovery period would not be too painful, such as pain and itchiness all over the body as if ants were crawling on it.
It is now March in the Gregorian calendar, but the long winter caused by the La Niña phenomenon is still raging outside the window. Fortunately, the floor is warm, and there should be underfloor heating installed below, just like Qi Beisong's house.
Because he felt so comfortable, Cheng Ji almost fell asleep again. Fortunately, his empty stomach reminded him that he should stay awake and eat.
Judging from his hunger level, he felt that he had been unconscious for at least five or six hours.
He felt a little drowsy and disoriented, especially when crawling, but he felt much better when he lay down. This is physiological, just like someone who takes too long a nap and needs some time to adjust after waking up.
His eyes were still sleepy, but his ears were beginning to work, so he heard someone unlock the door and walk quickly to his side and squat.
"Awake?" Shen Zimo asked.